The New Caney ISD school district has implemented a new late assignment policy. The policy states that if a student turns in an assignment one day past the due date then the assignment is automatically a 70 even if the work is worthy of a 100. To my understanding this policy is to hold students accountable for their grades and prevent students from turning in all assignments a day before the grading period ends.

Many teachers advocate for this late policy stating that it is to make grading more “fair”. They also state that it is not fair to students who turn in assignments on time to get the same grade or credit as a student who consistently turns in assignments late. This, however, is a bit of an exaggeration because obviously, if students are consistently turning in assignments late then they should be penalized for this. However, taking 30 points off for an assignment because it is one day late is very extreme. It is understandable to take 10 points off for each class period that the assignment is missing but not 30. This policy is taking the argument of student accountability too far. This policy is not taking into account the fact that students have multiple classes and have multiple homework assignments for these classes. Furthermore, teachers are not setting realistic due dates, which when paired with the late policy, makes for a very unfair grading system for students.

If a student rarely turns in assignments, late teachers should take this into consideration and give that student some leniency especially when the class isn’t an AP or Dual Credit course. The first priority should be students. But this late policy is setting students to fail. If a student ever gets behind on their schoolwork it becomes almost impossible for the student to get back on track. Even though, it is the student’s responsibility for being mindful of their grades, but things happen and no one is perfect, especially not students, and should be given some grace.

The district should consider implementing a different late policy. They should consider taking 10 points off for each class period that the assignment is past the due date. This is much more reasonable than taking 30 points off only a day past the due date and would be more fair overall to all of the students.